[1/1] Denver Pulls Away from Furman, 10-5

Berg's first-half hat trick and LaPlante's 19 saves lead Pioneers in second game in two days

USAFA, Colo.- Senior captain Wesley Berg(Coquitlam, B.C.) scored four goals to lead the [1/1] University of Denver men's lacrosse team to a 10-5 win over Furman on Sunday afternoon at the Holaday Athletic Center on the campus of the United States Air Force Academy.

"I'm really excited for Furman. They played really hard and I think they taught all of our guys a great lesson today," head coach Bill Tierneysaid. "Each and every day we're going to get someone's best effort, and if we're not ready to play, we're going to be in trouble. Everyone has Division I players, and I just didn't think our guys were as sharp as they needed to be today."

Senior goaltender Ryan LaPlante(Fort Collins, Colo.) set a new career-high with 19 saves on Sunday, including 12 in the first half. LaPlante's save mark is the second-most saves made in a single-game in DU history (Jeff Nunziato 21 at Virginia on 4/28/03).

"It's funny with Ryan [at the Holaday Athletic Center]. Two years he played in here and had a great day for us against Canisius, and he did the same again here today," Tierney said. "Without Ryan, I'm not sure how this game would have turned out. Both goalies were fabulous today. Some days your offense is going to lead you, and you don't have to play much defense, but I thought today our defense, up until one little stretch where they got a couple quick goals, played pretty well."

Sophomore attack Tyler Pace(Coquitlam, B.C.) added a pair of goals and assists, while sophomore Connor Cannizzaro(Cazenovia, N.Y.) distributed three assists to go along with a man-up goal.

The two teams played to a scoreless first quarter that sawFurman outshoot Denver 16-5, forcing eight saves from DU's senior goalkeeper. Both teams only had three possessions in a very quick first quarter (18 minutes).

Berg got Denver (3-0) on the board 2:28 into the second quarter from the door step off a beautiful feed from behind the cage from Connor Cannizzaro. Chesapeake Bayhawks draftee Erik Adamson(Anaheim Hills, Calif.) doubled the advantage with 9:09 remaining to give Denver a 2-0 lead. Berg completed a first half hat trick with two goals in eight seconds to give Denver a 4-0 lead with 3:35 to play.

Furman scored two goals to start the second half to cut the Pioneers' intermission lead in half before Berg clipped the inside of the post before his shot from 10-yards out tickled the twine to make it 5-2. Pace made it 6-2 off the feed from freshman Zach Miller(Steamburg, N.Y.) on the following possession before Furman.

The Paladins scored back-to-back goals within 15 seconds of eachother in the final minute of the third to cut the lead to 6-4 after three quarters of play.

Pace grabbed the first goal of the fourth quarter for Denver to stretch the lead back to three, before Furman's Robbie Betchley cut the lead back to two at 7-5 with exactly 10 minutes to play. Connor Cannizzaro got a man-up goal followed by a quick Adamson goal to stretch Denver's lead back to four at 9-5 with 6:40 to play. The Cannizzao brothers linked up for Denver's 10th goal of the afternoon as Connor fed Sean.

Denver will open a stretch against back-to-back top-5 opponents when the Pioneers head to Chapel Hill to take on [4/4] North Carolina on Friday at 4 p.m. ET/2 p.m. MT. Friday's clash can be seen on ESPNU. DU will then return home to take on [2/3] Notre Dame at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on March 7 at 1 p.m. MT.

"We're 2-0 on the weekend, and 3-0 on the year, and we know what we're up against next week at Carolina," Tierney said.